Typical prices to paint a house inside and outside
| Job | JC's price |
|---|---|
| One room, walls only | [PRICE] |
| One room, walls + ceiling + trim | [PRICE] |
| Whole interior, 3-bed home | [PRICE] |
| Exterior, 1-story home | [PRICE] |
| Exterior, 2-story home | [PRICE] |
What's included: prices cover labor, paint and normal prep: moving and covering furniture, filling nail holes and small cracks, caulking, spot-priming and two coats. Bigger repairs, like water damage or stucco cracks, are quoted separately. The interior house painting cost above is for walls in standard 8 to 9 ft rooms; vaulted ceilings cost more.
What changes the cost to paint a house
- Size. Interior jobs are often figured as an interior paint cost per sq ft of wall, so bigger rooms and higher ceilings cost more.
- Stories. Two-story exteriors need ladders or lifts and take longer to do safely, which raises the outside painting cost.
- Condition. Mildew, peeling paint and cracked stucco add washing, scraping, patching and priming time.
- Materials. Better paint costs more up front and lasts longer in Florida sun. Elastomeric coatings for cracked stucco cost more than regular exterior paint.
- Color change. Going from dark to light, or light to dark, can need an extra coat.
- Extras. Trim, doors, shutters, garage doors, cabinets and accent walls are priced on top.
Painting a house yourself vs hiring a painter
Painting one bedroom yourself is very doable: the cost is paint, rollers, tape and a weekend. A whole house is different. Most homeowners underestimate the prep, and that's where DIY paint jobs fail: paint over mildew or chalky old paint peels within a couple of years. Exteriors add ladders, heat and two-story walls, which is where the safety risk is. Hiring pays off when the job is big, high up, or needs repair work first, and when you'd rather have it done in days instead of weekends.
Want an exact price?Send a photo and JC will quote it. More on our interior painting page.
Get a free quoteHouse painting cost questions
How much does it cost to paint a 1600 sq ft house interior?
[PRICE: JC's range for a 1,600 sq ft interior, walls only and with ceilings and trim.] The final price depends on ceiling height, how many rooms change color and how much patching the walls need. Empty homes cost less than furnished ones, because there's less to move and cover.
How much should it cost to paint 1000 sq ft?
[PRICE: JC's price per sq ft of wall, interior.] Note that 1,000 sq ft of floor is a lot more than 1,000 sq ft of wall, so ask whether a quote is per floor area or per wall area before you compare prices.
How much should it cost to paint the interior of a 2000 sq ft house?
[PRICE: JC's range for a 2,000 sq ft interior.] Smaller jobs in the same house, like a cost to paint a 1500 sq ft house interior, scale down from there. Ceilings, trim and doors add to the walls-only price.
What is the average cost of hiring a painter?
National guides like Angi put the average exterior repaint at about $3,200, but Florida stucco homes often need more prep than that average assumes. [PRICE: JC's typical exterior range.] Interior work is usually priced per room or per square foot.
What's the average cost to paint a 2000 square foot house?
[PRICE: JC's range for a 2,000 sq ft one-story exterior.] The cost to paint a house outside depends most on stories, stucco condition and how much trim there is. A two-story home of the same size costs more.
What is a fair price to paint a whole interior home?
A fair quote lists the prep, the paint and the number of coats, so you can compare like with like. [PRICE: JC's typical whole-interior range.] Be wary of a much lower quote that leaves out prep: that's usually where the corners get cut. The inside painting cost is mostly labor.
